Texas Constable Killed in Cruiser Crash

A veteran Titus County, Texas constable was killed in a wreck in his patrol vehicle while driving home from work Thursday morning.

Constable Cleve Johnson was traveling on FM 1734 in Mt. Pleasant just before 10 a.m. when his vehicle left the roadway and struck a concrete culvert, according to KLTV.

Titus County Sheriff's officials said that the 57-year-old constable was killed on impact.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.

Colleagues said that Johnson personified what it meant to be in law enforcement.

"He had that distinct voice where whenever he walked into a building everybody knew it was Cleve; he was always a character you might say," Chris Bragg told the news station. "Me being a young rookie deputy, he took me under his wing and showed me how to work cases."

Titus County Sheriff Tim Ingram was not only a colleague of Johnson's, but was also his next door neighbor for 15 years.

"If you really got to know Cleve and got to know what kind of person he was, you couldn't help but love him," he said.

Johnson worked for the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Titus County Sheriff's Office and the constable's office. He has 34 combined years in law enforcement and served as a constable since 1997.